Child&#39;s training chair and urinal



N. R. MACKEY April 6, 1965 CHILD'S TRAINING CHAIR AND URINAL Filed Jan. 28, 1963 INVENTOR.

arr)- United States Patent 3,176,319 CHILDS TRAINING CHAIR AND URINAL Naomi Ruth Mackey, 7112 SE. Raymond Court, Portland, Oreg. Filed Jan. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 254,293 6 Claims. (Cl. 4-134) This invention relates to a training chair and urinal for use in developing the bathroom habits of small children, particularly of small boys.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide a childs training chair including a stand and urinal, having the following functional and procedural advantages:

(1) It is proof against splashing.

(2) The urinal easily may be removed from the stand for emptying and cleaning.

(3) The urinal is readily portable and provided with legs so that it may be used independently of the stand.

(4) It is approached and mounted by the child when he is moving forwardly, a forward, climbing approach being more natural for a child than is a backward movement.

(5) The stand portion of the assembly is collapsible for ready portability.

(6) The assembly is stable and will not tip over easily.

(7) The child may be strapped in place when seated on the chair.

(8) Means such as a picture roll or blackboard easily may be associated with the chair as an accessory to entertain and instruct the child, encouraging him to remain seated on the chair.

(9) When the assembly is provided with such an accessory, it also may be provided with a urinal cover forming a seat so that its use as a desk may continue after its use as a urinal has been discontinued.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be apparent from the accompanying specification and claims considered together with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presently described childs training chair and urinal;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the stand portion of the assembly of FIG. 1, with the urinal removed and the stand partially collapsed; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the urinal portion of the assembly, detached from the stand and illustrating the manner of operation of its independentlyoperating supporting legs.

As has been indicated above, the childs training chair I and urinal of my invention comprises a frame or stand 10 which mounts a urinal indicated generally at 12. These two units of the assembly are readily demounted one from the other, the urinal being capable of independent use per se in situations Where it is desirable to have a readily portable unit, as when traveling with a small child.

Frame 10 may be constructed as a rigid and noncollapsible unit or as a collapsible assembly for convenient transportation and storage. In its illustrated and collapsible form, it includes a pair of horizontal, spaced,

preferably diverging base members 14, which may be constructed if desired from a single length of reversely bent pipe or other structural material.

The base members support a pair of spaced, vertically adjustable, uprights or standards 16 which are hinged to the base members by pivot pins 18 so that the frame assembly may be collapsed. The standards telescope, one within the other, and are adjusted to the desired height by inserting a spring pressed pin 19 on one of 3,176,319 Patented Apr. 6, 1965 the telescoping sections into a corresponding opening through the companion section.

Releasable locking means are provided for locking the standards in their upright position. Such means comprise extensions 20 which extend outwardly from the bottom of the standards substantially perpendicular thereto, and locking rings 22 sh'dably mounted one on each of base members 14.

Spring pressed locking projections 24 extend outwardly from base members 14. These are insertable in corresponding openings 26 in locking rings 22. Accordingly, standards 16 readily may be shifted fromv the upright, working position of FIG. 1 to the collapsed, storage or transporting position of FIG. 2, and vice versa.

Means also are provided for mounting on the standards a pair of spaced, horizontally extending support arms 28. These have for their function supporting the urinal component 12 of the assembly. The arms may be formed from a length of pipe or other structural material reversely bent in the manner indicated in FIG. 2. Their inner extremities are provided with extensions 30.

The arms then may be mounted on standards 16 in the same manner as the latter standards are mounted on base members 14, viz. by hinging the arms to the standards in a suitable manner, as by means of pivot pins 32. The arms then may be locked in operative position by means of locking rings 34 cooperating with spring pressed locking buttons 36, as heretofore described.

The construction of the urinal component of the assembly, designed to nest between arms 28, is particularly evident in FIGS. 3 and 4.

This component may be formed to advantage of a single molded piece of water-impervious material such as a thermoplastic or thermosetting resin. It is formed with a front portion 40 including an elevated hood and a depressed bottom. Its front wall is arcuate, preferably in a parabolic configuration. There thus is provided a front Wall which serves as a bafile preventing splashing during use and a depressed bottom which serves both as a collecting basin and as a point of support of the urinal when it is used separately from the frame.

The urinal component also is provided with a dished rear portion 42 which serves as a seat, the child facing forwardly toward the hood.

The rear or seat portion is formed with an integral flange 44 dimensioned to curl over support arms 28 and thus support the urinal on the arms, securely but removably.

The urinal component of the assembly also is provided with a handle 46 by means of which it easily may be removed, carried and re-mounted. It is provided further with a strap 48 by means of which the child may be secured in place. It is provided also with a pair of legs 50, which are arcuate to fit the contour of the underside of the urinal.

Legs 50 are pivoted to the underside of the urinal by means of pins 52. Accordingly they may be swung from the inoperative full line position of FIGS. 3 and 4 to the working, dotted line positions of those figures. The latter position is assumed when the urinal is to be used separately from the frame. When this is the case, it is supported amply by three bearing members, i.e. the two legs and the depressed bottom of hooded front portion 40.

Since it sometimes is a problem to maintain a child seated on the training chair for the necessary period of time, it is a further feature of my invention that the same stand which supports urinal 12 may be employed to support an entertaining or instructional element such as a blackboard or framed roll of pictures 52. These may be mounted on the upper ends of standards 16 in any suitable manner as by being provided with downwardly exards. g

It is an additional advantage of my invention that the assembly remains useful even after the child has been trained and the urinal no longer is needed. r 1

In this situation, the framed picture roll or, blackboard 52 may be used as before, or it may serve asfa desk.

. 4 l 7 second, lockingmeans comprise locking rings slidably encircling, respectively, the basemembersand standards andarranged' to slip over and releasably secure respective rigid extensions on the standards and the support arms. 4. The training chair of claim 1 wherein the open,

- rearwardly located seat portion-of the urinal is provided This is made possible by applying a lid 54 contoured to fit across the top of the urinal portion provided with rolled side edges to maintain it in place. V The service life of the assembly thus is continued beyond that normally contemplatedrfor a device of this class.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken asa preferred example of the samexan'd that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to Without departing from the spirit of my scope of the subjoined claims. I v 1 I v Having thus described my invention, Irclaim: 1. A childs training chair comprising: (a) a frame including a pair of spaced,horizontal, substantially parallel, elongated, rearwardly extending support arms elevated from the floor and havingvu'nobstructed sides, a t (b) a dished urinal having an elevated hooded front portion with an arcuate front wall communicating invention or the with an open, rearwardly located seat portion, hav

ing unobstructed sides, and v V (0) means for mounting the urinal horizontally be: tweenthe support arms for supporting a child in a forward facing direction straddling the'urinal. 2. The training chair of claim 1 wherein the frame comprises a .pair of spaced; interconnected, elongated, horizontal base members, a pair of standards, first-hinge, I

means hinging the lowerends of' the 's'tandards'toj 'oneto each of the base members,rfirst hinge locking means .:re-

leasably locking the standards to the base members in I upright operative position, second" hinge means fringing chairofclaim wherein the first and with an outwardly extending flange along its side margins, the flangebeingdimensioned to overlie the support arms.

5. A childs urinal comprising:

(a) a dished receptacle having an elevated, hooded front'p'ortion with an arcuate frontwall and a depressed bottom,

(b) the front portion communicating with anopen, 'rearwardly located seat portion having its bottom elevated above the depressed bottom of the front portion and 1 1 g I (c) a pair of legs mounted beneath the seat portion adjacent' therearward end thereof," extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom,- and affording with the depressed bottom ofthe front portion a three point support for the urinal when placed on a A supporting surface. 6.

The urinal of claim'5 including pivot means for pivciting the legs to theunderside'of the seat portion, 'thelegs being swingable f-rorn' 'arelzracted' position wherein they nestagainst the underside of the urinal and an extended position "wherein they supoprt the rearward end ofthe urinal. v

References Cited by the Examiner I UNITED STATES PATENTS 669,070

EDWARD v. BENHAM, Primary.Examiner; 

1. A CHILD''S TRAINING CHAIR COMPRISING: (A) A FRAME INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED, HORIZONTAL, SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL, ELONGATED, REARWARDLY EXTENDING SUPPORT ARMS ELEVATED FROM THE FLOOR AND HAVING UNOBSTRUCTED SIDES, (B) A DISHED URINAL HAVING AN ELEVATED HOODED FRONT PORTION WITH AN ARCUATE FRONT WALL COMMUNICATING WITH AN OPEN, REARWARDLY LOCATED SEAT PORTION, HAVING UNOBSTRUCTED SIDES, AND (C) MEANS FOR MOUNTING THE URINAL HORIZONTALLY BETWEEN THE SUPPORT ARMS FOR SUPPORTING A CHILD IN A FORWARD FACING DIRECTION STRADDLING THE URINAL. 